TIMELINE: International School: A mirror for Luxembourg's development

As the International School of Luxembourg begins celebrations for its 50th anniversary, wort.lu/en reflects on its dramatic development and the forces that went into making it what it is today.

19.06.2013

The International School of Luxembourg (ISL) has come a long way since the first makeshift class was held in the dining room of a private home in Strassen 50 years ago.

While its success has resulted from the efforts of numerous people, a large part of the credit must go to the Luxembourg education ministry, which began the project to attract international firm Du Pont du Namour.

“The Luxembourg government saw the necessity to diversify the economy. It contacted Du Pont which wanted to build Europe's first Polyester film plant somewhere in Europe,” Du Pont Communications Manager Henri Werner told wort.lu/en, adding: “Finally Du Pont decided to build in Luxembourg. One of the conditions of building this facility was that the children of the personnel at Du Pont would have an American-style school so their curriculum would not be disturbed.”

Mr Werner became something of an expert on the ISL after writing a book on the history of Du Pont Luxembourg, a history which is goes hand-in-hand with the school's. He learned through his research that pivotal in these early stages were the efforts of teacher Henri Muller. The Luxemburger, who had experience of teaching in the US, stepped in and obtained the use of a classroom at the primary school in Cessange early in 1963.

The Du Pont school was founded in a single classroom where Mr Muller taught around 15 pupils from several grades together.

The pilot project proved a great success as interest in the school grew. It prompted the Luxembourg government to offer classrooms at Servais House at the junction of Avenue Maria-Teresa and and Boulevard Joseph II, where the school remained for six years.

It was during that time that the curriculum evolved thanks to the work of a handful of teachers. Among the pioneers was again Henri Muller, who is credited for placing language teaching at the school's heart. Mr Werner explained: “They learned from Henri Muller that one language isn't enough. So he taught French. Now they teach other languages, including Japanese.”

Seeing the school as a draw for other international firms, the Luxembourg government continued to support its development. In 1969, it gave them access to a newly built school in rue Aloyse Kayser, Belair. The same year it was taken over by international firm Goodyear and renamed the English-speaking school, to reflect its international composition.

The following years saw the itinerant institution moving again and again as Luxembourg's openness to foreign investment paid off and student numbers grew. It moved to the Lycée Michel Rodange in 1972 where it took the name the American School and became a not-for-profit organisation and then in 1977 to 188 Avenue de la Faiencerie where it remained until 1999. The most rapid growth in the school's population, however, has been during its last phase when it moved to its own permanent grounds in rue Pierre Dupong in Merl, on the same campus as the Lycée Michel Rodange.

Looking back, Mr Werner summed up the evolution: “I think that's like a mirror for the development of Luxembourg society. In 1963 it all started like everything, very small, at the embryonic stage. Luxembourg was turning into a globally focused city,” he said, adding: “The school had to respond to the needs of society in '62 and now it responds to the needs of our age.”